Releasable metal scaffolding connector

ABSTRACT

A connector for tubular metal scaffolding wherein in one embodiment a bifurcated retaining member moves up and down alongside the upright and in its lowered position straddles the stud that projects from the upright outwardly of the apertured end of a brace or braces &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;impaled&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; on the stud. A guide rail secured to the upright above and below the stud and disposed at a downwardly convergent angle to the upright slidably mounts the bifurcated retaining member and so guides its movement that downward movement thereof is accompanied by inward lateral displacement towards the upright to clamp the end of the brace or braces against the upright. In another embodiment, the retaining member is channel-shaped and the guide rail, which is embraced by the channel-shaped retaining member, has its lower end secured to the upright above the stud and its upper end secured to a crossbar which projects from the upright and connects the upright with another upright.

J uculano RELEASABLE METAL SCAFFOLDING CONNECTOR [75] Inventor: Theodore C. Juculano, Oshkosh,

Wis. [73] Assignee: Symons Corporation, Des Plaines,

Ill.

[22] Filed: Oct. 20, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 299,206

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 196,429, Nov. 8,

l97l, abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl. 403/49 [51] Int. Cl. E046 1/00 [58] Field of Search 403/49, 376; 182/178, 179

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,708,606 5/1955 Schumacher 403/49 2,726,902 12/1955 Borgman et al. 403/49 2,891,820 6/1959 Schoeneberg 403/49 3,017,208 H1962 Wyse t 403/49 3,300,236 1/l967 Sauls 403/376 [451 Apr. 30, 1974 3,481,095 12/1969 Beziat 403/49X Primary Examiner-Werner H. Schroeder ABSTRACT A connector for tubularmetal scaffolding wherein in one embodiment a bifurcated retaining member moves up and down alongside the upright and in its lowered position straddles the stud that projects from the upright outwardly of the apertured end of a brace or braces impaled on the stud. A guide rail secured to the upright above and below the stud and disposed at a downwardly convergent angle to the upright slidably mounts the bifurcated retaining member and so guides its movement that downward movement thereof is accompanied byinward lateral displacement towards the upright to clamp the end of the brace or braces against the upright. In another embodiment, the retaining member is channel-shaped and the guide rail, which is embraced by the channel-shaped retaining member, has its lower end secured to the upright above the stud and its upper end secured to a crossbar which projects from the upright and connects the upright with another upright.

13 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures PATENTEUAPRBO m4 3.807384 sum 1 0F 5 FIG-J TENIEB m 30 I974 SHEET 2 (IF 5 PATENIEIJAPRBO m4 3. 807.884

SH'LU 3 BF 5 PATENTEDAPR 30 m4 3 807L884 saw u BF 5 RELEASABLE METAL SCAFFOLDING CONNECTOR This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 196,429, filed Nov. 8, 1971, now abandoned; and hence relates to metal scaffolding of the type disclosed in the Juculano US. Pat. No. Re. 25,053, issued Oct. 17, 1971, and US. Pat. No. 3,458,222, issued July 29, 1969.

Scaffolding of the type to which this invention pertains, as is well known, is comprised of rigid rectangular frame sections or panels as they are often called, each consisting of a pair of tubular uprights or posts joined together in spaced parallel relationship by transverse crossbars. Diagonal braces are detachably connected at their ends to the uprights or posts of adjacent panels, to hold the panels in uniformly spaced relation and in alignment with one another. The braces are also tubular and their ends are customarily flattened and apertured to enable their attachment to studs that are fixed to and project from the uprights or posts.

As can be readily appreciated, the commercial acceptance of metal scaffolding as well as its stability depends heavily upon the manner in which its diagonal braces aresecured to the uprights. When metal scaffolding first came on the scene, the apertured ends of the braces were simply impaled upon threaded studs projecting from the uprights and held in place by wing-nuts threaded onto the studs. While the wing-nuts held the braces tightly against the uprights, if the nuts were pulled up tight, the need for removing the wingnuts to permit the braces to be applied to the studs was a never ending source of irritation. Time and again a nut would be dropped and often lost and not replaced.

The objections to the removable wing-nut type of connector led to the development of connectors which used no clamping nut but, instead, had a bifurcated retaining member slidably mounted on the upright for movement axially thereof to and from a position straddling the stud outwardly of the apertured end portions of the braces impaled on the stud. Examples of this sliding type of connector will be found in the patents to Pimm US. Pat. No. 2,823,959; Tardiff US. Pat. No. 3,027,18] and Juculano U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,655.

While these sliding type connectors overcame the objections to the use of wing-nuts and had the attribute of quick manipulation, they did not provide the desired rigidity in the connection between the braces and the uprights. The elimination of-that disadvantage is the specific purpose of the invention disclosed and claimed in the aforesaid Juculano US. Pat. No. 3,458,222, but in the connector of that patent, a wing-nut still had to be tightened, though removal of the nut from the stud was not necessary.

The present invention has achieved everything sought by all prior attempts to produce the perfect connector in that it combines the simplicity and quickness of the bifurcated sliding type of connector with the rigidity of the wing-nut securement, but does so without the need for a wing-nut, without requiring manipulation of a comparable clamping device, and without the need for using any tool.

In that embodiment of the invention disclosed in the aforesaid application, Ser. No. 196,429, the connector comprises an unthreaded stud projecting from the upright and onto which the apertured end of the brace, or

2 plurality of braces, is applied or impaled in the cus: tomary way, a bifurcated retainer to straddle the stud outwardly of the brace or braces thereon, and "55nd able connection between the retainer and the upright which allows the retainer to be lifted from its position straddling the stud to permit application and removal of braces to and from the stud, and which connection incorporates means by which descent of the retainer to the upright at a location between the crossbar and the stud. As in the earlier embodiment of the invention, upon descent of the retainer, it automatically moves towards the upright to clamp the brace or braces thereagainst.

With these observations and objectives in mind, the manner in which the invention achieves its purpose will be appreciated from the following description of the accompanying drawings, which exemplify the invention, it being understood that changes may be made in the specific apparatus disclosed herein without departing from the essentials of the invention set forth in the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate two complete examples of the embodiment of the invention constructed according to the best modes so far devised for the practical application of the principles thereof, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the connector of one embodiment of this invention, illustrating the same in its operative condition securely holding two braces to the upright; I

FIG. 2 is a similar perspective view of the same connector, but with the retainer in its raised position and the braces about to be impaled upon the stud;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the connector of FIGS. 1 and 2, showing the retainer in its lowered operative position securing the braces in place, and in broken lines showing the retainer raised to permit the braces to be removed;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of the connector illustrating the same in its operative condition securelyclamping two braces against the upright;

'FIG. 5 is a side view of the connector shown in FIG. 4, with a part thereof in section; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view through FIG. 5 on the plane of the line 6-6.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, the numeral 5 designates a tubular upright or post of a conventional metal scaffolding frame or panel, to which one or more diagonal braces 6 are detachably secured. The braces which are also tubular have the customary flattened end portions 7, the apertures 8 of which are of a size to fit easily onto a stud 9 that projects perpendicularly from the side of the upright and, more specifically, from a fiat surfaced boss 10 that is welded to the upright.

In that embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the connector by which the braces are secured to the upright comprises a bifurcated retainer or retaining member 11 and a novel mounting for the retaining member by which the latter is held assembled with the upright for up and down movement in front of the stud 9 between a lowered operative position staddling the stud outwardly of the brace or braces thereon, and a raised position clear of the stud to permit attachment and detachment of the braces. The characterizing feature of the mounting for the retaining member is that it imparts lateral movement to the retaining member towards the upright as the latter moves downward, to thereby automatically clamp the brace or braces against the flat-face of the boss 10. More specifically,

the mounting for the retaining member consists of an elongated straight rail 13 with inturned upper and lower end portions 14 and 15 that have their extremities welded to the side of the upright from which the stud projects, one above and the other beneath the stud. The upper end portion is longer than the lower one, so that the rail 13 is held at a downwardly convergent angle with respect to the upright.

The retaining member is a U-shaped unit 11 having a flat bight portion 17 and parallel upper and lower arms 18 and 19, respectively, the upper one being longer than the lower one. Holes in the arms freely slidably receive the rail 13, it being understood that the retaining member must be assembled with the rail before it has its inturned end portions welded to the upright.

A slot 21 extending along the length of the bight portion 17 of the retaining member and for a distance into its lower arm 19, gives the retaining member its bifurcated form that allows it to straddle the stud and clamp the braces to the upright. Attention is directed to the fact that the length of the arms 18 and 19 of the retaining member are so related to the angular disposition of the rail 13 that, in all positions of the retaining member, its flat bight portion is parallel to the upright. Hence, no matter how many braces are impaled upon the stud, the retaining member makes flat surface-tosurface engagement with the outermost brace on the stud and thus firmly clamps it and any others beneath it against the upright.

Although the mere dropping of the retaining member will be sufficient to wedge it between the inclined rail 13 and the upright, for greater security a slight tap with a hammer on the top of the retaining member will effect an extremely tight connection, without however making it too difficult to lift the retaining member to a position permitting detachment of the braces.

In the modified embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, a stud 9 is located a short distance down from each of the two crossbars by which the upright 5 is connected with its companion to form a scaffolding frame or panel, but only the upper one of these crossbars is illustrated and designated by the numeral 20. A feature of this embodiment of the invention is the use of the crossbar 20 as part of'the means for connecting the guide member 13 with the upright. Accordingly, the guide member, which is again simply a bar or rail, has its upper end welded as at 21 to the underside of the crossbar 20 and its lower end welded as at 22 to the side of the upright from which the stud projects. But note that in this case the lower end, and hence the entire guide member, is above the stud.

For the major portion of its length, the guide member is inclined and forms a downwardly convergent angle with the upright, the extreme lower end portion of the guide member, however, being horizontal. The entire guide member, like the stud, is bisected by a plane that contains the axes of the upright 5 and the cross bar 20.

The retaining member 11 which slides up and down on the guide member, is channel shaped in cross section and has a pair of parallel flanges 23 connected by a web 24. The flanges embrace the guide member, and the web 24 is held in flatwise sliding engagement with the guide member by a crossbar 25 welded to the inner faces of the flanges. The web and the crossbar 25 thus coact to hold the retaining member assembled with the guide member and constrain the up and down movement of the retaining member to parallelism with the inclined guide member. Hence, during descent of the retaining member, the edges 26 of its flanges, which in all positions of the retaining member are parallel with the upright, move towards the upright to clamp the apertured end of a brace or two braces that have been impaled on the stud, tightly against the upright.

Attention is directed to the fact that it is the lower portion of the flanges which projects below the bottom horizontal part of the guide member that performs the clamping function and that in the lowered operative position of the retaining member, it embraces the stud; also, that the bottom portion of the web'is cut away so as not to interfere with the retaining member assuming its operative position.

To facilitate lifting or raising the retaining member-to its'inoperative position, illustrated in broken light lines in FIG. 5, a handle 27 is welded to its web. With the retaining member lifted to its uppermost position, ample clearance exists for attachment and detachment of braces onto and off of the stud.

The triangular shape of the retaining member flanges gives them maximum width and enables them to-embrace the lower horizontal portion of the guide member for most of its length, to thereby firmly hold the retaining member against rocking from side-to-side.

As noted hereinbefore, each scaffolding frame or panel consists of two uprights connected by upper and lower crossbars, only the upper one of which is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 where it is indicated by the numeral 20. The braces 6, therefore, slant downwardly in FIG. 4, but would slant upwardly if the crossbar illustrated would be the bottom one.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention can be embodied in forms other than as herein disclosed for purposes of illustration.

The invention is defined by the following claims:

1. A connector for detachably securing an apertured end of a brace or plurality of braces to an upright of a metal scaffolding frame, comprising:

A. a stud fixed to and projecting from the side of the upright to pass through the aperture in the brace or braces to be secured to the upright;

B. a retaining member having a part shaped to embrace the stud;

C. means mounting said retaining member on the upright for vertical movement between a raised position in which said part thereofis clear of the stud to permit attachment of the apertured end of a brace or plurality of braces to the stud and a lowered position in which said part embraces the stud outwardly of a brace or braces thereon; and

D. means responsive to downward movement of the retaining member for imparting lateral movement thereto towards the upright whereby a brace or plurality of braces on the stud are automatically clamped against the upright when the retaining member is permitted to drop, said last named means comprising:

1. an elongated rigid guide member alongside the upright and having upper and lower ends;

2. means connecting the upper and lower ends of said guide member with the upright and securing the guide member in fixedly spaced relation with respect to the upright at a downwardly convergent angle; and

3. means providing a sliding connection between said retaining member and said guide member.

2. The connector of claim 1, wherein the means connecting the ends of the guide member with the upright comprises:

A. a mounting arm projecting from each end of the guide member, and

B. means securing said mounting arms to the upright,

one above and the other beneath said stud,

the upper mounting arm being longer than the lower one to thereby give to the guide member its downward convergent disposition with respect to the upright.

3. The connector of claim 2, further characterized in that said elongated guide member and its mounting arms is a straight rail with integral inturned end portions.

4. The connector of claim 3, further characterized in that said retaining member is U-shaped with arms that have holes in which said rail is slidably received; and the lower arm and bight portion of which have connecting slots that form a downwardly opening bifurcation to receive the stud as the retaining member moves from its raised position towards its lowered position.

5. The connector of claim 3 wherein said rail and the inturned end portions thereof are of uniform cross section, and

wherein the extremities of the end portions are welded to the side of the upright from which the stud projects.

6. The connector of claim 4, wherein the bight portion of said U-shaped retaining member is flat and parallel to the upright in all positions thereof.

7. The connector of claim 1, wherein l. the entire guide member as well as the means connecting the opposite ends thereof with the upright is above said stud; wherein 2. the retaining member has a U-shaped cross section with spaced parallel flanges connected by a web;

wherein 3. said flanges embrace the guide member in all positions of the retaining member, and in the lowered position of the retaining member the bottom portions of the flanges embrace said stud while in the I raised position of the retaining member the bottom portions of the flanges are at an elevation above said stud; and wherein 4. said means providing a sliding connection between the retaining member and the guide member comprises the web of the retaining member and a crossbar connecting the flanges of the retaining member at a distance spaced from the web, the web and crossbar having sliding engagement with opposite surfaces of the guide member.

8. The structure of claim 1, wherein (I) the connector is located subjacent a crossbar of the scaffolding frame, and wherein (2) the upper one of the opposite ends of the guide member is secured to the underside of the crossbar, so that said crossbar constitutes the means connecting the upper end of the guide member with said upright.

9. The structure of claim 7, wherein (l) the connector is located subjacent a crossbar of the scaffolding frame, and wherein (2) the upper one of the opposite ends of the guide member is secured to the underside of the crossbar, so that said crossbar constitutes the means connecting the upper end of the guide member with said upright.

10. In a scaffolding frame having an upright and a crossbar projecting perpendicularly from one side of the upright, a connector for detachably securing an apertured end of a brace or plurality of braces tothe upright, comprising:

A. a stud fixed to and projecting from said one side of the upright beneath the crossbar to, pass through the aperture in the brace or braces to be secured to the upright;

B. a retaining member to hold a brace that has been attached to thestud against unintentional detachment;

C. mounting means for the retaining member adjacent to said side of the upright by which the retaining member is assembled with the upright for vertical movement in a plane containing the axes of the upright, the crossbar and the stud, between a lowered operative position in which the retaining member holds the apertured end of abrace or pair of braces on the stud and a raised inoperative position in which the retaining member does not interfere with placement and removal of the apertured end of a brace onto or from the stud, said mounting means comprising an elongated guide memberhaving one end'thereof fixed to the underside of the crossbar and its other end fixed to said one side of the upright above said stud, said guide member being inclined and disposed at a downwardly convergent angle to the upright; and

D. means providing a sliding connection between the retaining member and said inclined guide member so that during downward movement of the retaining member to its operative position, it moves laterally towards said side of the upright to clamp against the upright the apertured end of any brace that has been attached to the stud.

11. The structure of claim 10, wherein said retaining member is channel spaced with spaced apart flanges connected by a web, the flanges embracing the guide member, and

wherein said slidable connection comprises the web of the retaining member and a crossbar connecting the flanges of the retaining member.

12. The structure of claim 11 further characterized in that the flanges of the retaining member have edges that are substantially parallel with the upright in all positions of the retaining member, and which 'edges clampingly bear against the apertured end of the outer-- most of any brace attached to said stud.

13. The structure of claim 12, wherein in the operative position of the retaining member the lower portion of its webs embrace said stud and the bottom extremities of the flanges are at an elevation below said stud, and

wherein the web connecting the flanges is cut away at a point above the bottom extremities of the flanges so as not to collide with said stud as the retaining member moves to its operative position. 

1. A connector for detachably securing an apertured end of a brace or plurality of braces to an upright of a metal scaffolding frame, comprising: A. a stud fixed to and projecting from the side of the upright to pass through the aperture in the brace or braces to be secured to the upright; B. a retaining member having a part shaped to embrace the stud; C. means mounting said retaining member on the upright for vertical movement between a raised position in which said part thereof is clear of the stud to permit attachment of the apertured end of a brace or plurality of braces to the stud and a lowered position in which said part embraces the stud outwardly of a brace or braces thereon; and D. means responsive to downward movement of the retaining member for imparting lateral movement thereto towards the upright whereby a brace or plurality of braces on the stud are automatically clamped against the upright when the retaining member is permitted to drop, said last named means comprising:
 1. an elongated rigid guide member alongside the upright and having upper and lower ends;
 2. means connecting the upper and lower ends of said guide member with the upright and securing the guide member in fixedly spaced relation with respect to the upright at a downwardly convergent angle; and
 3. means providing a sliding connection between said retaining member and said guide member.
 2. means connecting the upper and lower ends of said guide member with the upright and securing the guide member in fixedly spaced relation with respect to the upright at a downwardly convergent angle; and
 2. the retaining member has a U-shaped cross section with spaced parallel flanges connected by a web; wherein
 2. The connector of claim 1, wherein the means connecting the ends of the guide member with the upright comprises: A. a mounting arm projecting from each end of the guide member, and B. means securing said mounting arms to the upright, one above and the other beneath said stud, the upper mounting arm being longer than the lower one to thereby give to the guide member its downward convergent disposition with respect to the upright.
 3. means providing a sliding connection between said retaining member and said guide member.
 3. The connector of claim 2, further characterized in that said elongated guide member and its mounting arms is a straight rail with integral inturned end portions.
 3. said flanges embrace the guide member in all positions of the retaining member, and in the lowered position of the retaining member the bottom portions of the flanges embrace said stud while in the raised position of the retaining member the bottom portions of the flanges are at an elevation above said stud; and wherein
 4. said means providing a sliding connection between the retaining member and the guide member comprises the web of the retaining member and a crossbar connecting the flanges of the retaining member at a distance spaced from the web, the web and crossbar having sliding engagement with opposite surfaces of the guide member.
 4. The connector of claim 3, further characterized in that said retaining member is U-shaped with arms that have holes in which said rail is slidably received; and the lower arm and bight portion of which have connecting slots that form a downwardly opening bifurcation to receive the stud as the retaining member moves from its raised position towards its lowered position.
 5. The connector of claim 3 wherein said rail and the inturned end portions thereof are of uniform cross section, and wherein the extremities of the end portions are welded to the side of the upright from which the stud projects.
 6. The connector of claim 4, wherein the bight portion of said U-shaped retaining member is flat and parallel to the upright in all positions thereof.
 7. The connector of claim 1, wherein
 8. The structure of claim 1, wherein (1) the connector is located subjacent a crossbar of the scaffolding frame, and wherein (2) the upper one of the opposite ends of the guide member is secured to the underside of the crossbar, so that said crossbar constitutes the means connecting the upper end of the guide member with said upright.
 9. The structure of claim 7, wherein (1) the connector is located subjacent a crossbar of the scaffolding frame, and wherein (2) the upper one of the opposite ends of the guide member is secured to the underside of the crossbar, so that said crossbar constitutes the means connecting the upper end of the guide member with said upright.
 10. In a scaffolding frame having an upright and a crossbar projecting perpendicularly from one side of the upright, a connector for detachably securing an apertured end of a brace or plurality of braces to the upright, comprising: A. a stud fixed to and projecting from said one side of the upright beneath the crossbar to pass through the aperture in the brace or braces to be secured to the upright; B. a retaining member to hold a brace that has been attached to the stud against unintentional detachment; C. mounting means for the retaining member adjacent to said side of the upright by which the retaining member is assembled with the upright for vertical movement in a plane containing the axes of the upright, the crossbar and the stud, between a lowered operative position in which the retaining member holds the apertured end of a brace or pair of braces on the stud and a raised inoperative position in which the retaining member does not interfere with placement and removal of the apertured end of a brace onto or from the stud, said mounting means comprising an elongated guide member having one end thereof fixed to the underside of the crossbar and its other end fixed to said one side of the upright above said stud, said guide member being inclined and disposed at a downwardly convergent angle to the upright; and D. means providing a sliding connection between the retaining member and said inclined guide member so that during downward movement of the retaining member to its operative position, it moves laterally towards said side of the upright to clamp against the upright the apertured end of any brace that has been attached to the stud.
 11. The structure of claim 10, wherein said retaining member is channel spaced with spaced apart flanges connected by a web, the flanges embracing the guide member, and wherein said slidable connection comprises the web of the retaining member and a crossbar connecting the flanges of the retaining member.
 12. The structure of claim 11 further characterized in that the flanges of the retaining member have edges that are substantially parallel with the upright in all positions of the retaining member, and which edges clampingly bear against the apertured end of the outermost of any brace attached to said stud.
 13. The structure of claim 12, wherein in the operative position of the retaining member the lower portion of its webs embrace said stud and the bottom extremities of the flanges are at an elevation below said stud, and wherein the web connecting the flanges is cut away at a point above the bottom extremities of the flanges so as not to collide with said stud as the retaining member moves to its operative position. 